Stuart Ironside

I am a Guitarist, Composer, Teacher and Ethnomusicologist based in North London.

My focus as a teacher is playing the music of the West African Mande on the guitar. We work through the traditional pieces of the kora, balafon and ngoni on the guitar, playing through cycles and grooves of the repertoire from great masters like Lassana Diabate, Ballake Sissoko and Jali Keba Susso. We explore the relationship of variation and improvisation in our performance, and how using muscle memory can aid us in performance.

Lessons are delivered aurally with a focus on performance, freedom and expression. Theory is incorporated practically into the grooves we learn, while also providing frameworks for how to approach other musics. So if you want to find out more about a music you’re already interested in or simply want to learn a radically new style of playing the guitar, join me in exploring this wonderful and beautiful musical language.

Music Qualifications & Achievements:

I hold a BMus from Cardiff University and an MA from SOAS University of London.

I have studied up to Grade 8 in the Trinity College London syllabus, and have studied with practitioners of Mande music and Mande guitar including Kadialy Kouyate, Lucy Duran, Derek Gripper and Lassana Diabate.

I’ve been performing across the country for the best part of five years, and have recorded an impressive collection of music. This includes my debut album ‘The Wallace Line’, a collection of original songs and arrangements, inspired by my work with African, Indonesian, Classical and Folk music. I am especially proud of this album, recorded at my home during the COVID lockdowns and being a true expression of my own language as a musician.

As I’ve been stepping into a more creative and fulfilling period as a performer, I’ve been inspired to begin teaching and help others develop their skills – I want every musician to be the most creative versions of themselves they can be.